Carlson



June 2, 1953 E. CARLSON 2,640,385

Y PERCUSSION MUSICAY` INSTRUMENT Filed June 14, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l xNvENToR ,EM/L CA @L SOA/ ATTORNE June 2, 1953 E. CARLSON 2,640,385

PERCSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed June. 14, 195Q `2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR z EM/ CARLSON /6- 7 BY/W? ATTORNE Patented June 2, 1953 UNITE D S TATES PATENT OFF l CE PERCUSSION MUSICALL INSTRUMENT E'mil Carlson, Maspeth; N; Y.

Applica-tionJunelli, 1950;.Seriazl No. 168,054

(Cl. Sli-405') 4 Claims. l.

'I'his invention relates to musical instruments, and more particularly toV the. Xylophone` type, which` have been actuated. heretofore by elted yarn or rubber hammers or mallets held in the hands f the musician.

Thev object ofthe invention is to provide a novel Xylophone. instrument in which hand-operated hammers need not tensed, and in` which the musicaly sounds are created by operating a keyboardr which in turn,- by electrical connections, actuates solenoids, the armatures offwhichstrike the Xylophone bars. This keyboard in one embodiment may be part of the cabinet in which the.- Xylophone bars are. encased,l so that aselfcontained, musical instrument. is provided, or the keyboard may be applied to another musical instrument, as an accordion, o'r a piano or organ, etc. to enable the percussion effect of. the Xylophone to accompany the. musical composition being rendered by such accordi'om piano or the like.

For this purpose, the invention consists of.' a plurality of superposed Xylophone bars of' progressively larger sizes anda plurality ofsolenoids one for each Xylophone bar arranged" in progressively greater heights,` to severally conform to the extending end' ofthe Xylophone bars. Electrical connections connectV4 each keyA ofA the keyboard with each. solenoid, sov that as a key of the keyboard is depressed; a corresponding solenoid is actuated, which strikes its corresponding Xylophone bar.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a planv View of a Xylophone instrument, without connections showing an open top forthe dissemination of sounds;

Fig. 2. is a. vertical: section of Fig. 1,. taken on line 2.-2 of Fig; 1, with parts in side view;l

Fig; 3 shows a keyboard on the top ofthe casing of' Fig; 1, which may however, be remote on an accordion, piano or organ, or the like;

Fig; 4 is an electrical diagram of one unit, also showing an accordion connected in circuit;

Fig. 5 is a rear end view, with the rear wall removed;

Fig; 6 shows a plan view4 of the Xylophone bars arranged on a partition having an' opening, and

Fig. '7` shows" an alternative mounting for supporting` the Xylophone bars.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding partsthroughout the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. l, a casing IVOhasa rear opening I I, which is closed. by a sliding door I2. Within the casing I0 there are disposed a plurality of horizontal' partitions I5, the lateral sides of which lit into horizontal parallel slots IB, which may extend fromy fron-t to rear oif the casing., as the simplest form of mass manufacture, though each pair of slots, needv only be the length of its correspending partition. Each partition from the top partition to the lowest. partition is progressively shorter. (Fig. 2.) Each partition supports two 2. suspension members 2.0 which preferably are made of a piece of covered wire or cord. or oat gut, with their upper free endsy 2.IV knotted or the like to prevent their passage through the hole 22 in the partition, and forming a U suspension passing through a bore 23,. two in each Xylophone bar 2.5. Each Xylophone bar 25t is suspendingly balanced. The bores 2.3'. are spaced from the ends of. the Xylophone to properly longitudinally balance the same, and the cord, wire or cat gut is adjustedto properly balance the Xylophone bar transversely, so.` that, the undersurface of the end 25a of the Xylophone bar 25, presents a level surface. that is in` a horizontal. plane. Below this end 25a which protrudes beyond the corresponding end of the Xylophone bar next below, there is arranged a vertically disposed solenoid 3U, the. armature. 3'I of. which has an upper surface 3I a in a horizontal plane and parallel with the end surface 25a and spaced therefrom. The. solenoid. 30 is supported by a verticalv tube 33., which has its. lower end screwed to the horizontalbottomwall 34.. Parallel. with said tube 3.31 and solenoid 3U, andhorizontally spaced. therefromV and shorter in vertical length, are. a plurality ofv solenoids,` andV tubes. The tops of allo these solenoid's form asten-like structure. (Fig. 2.)I

Below the top xylophonebar 25v are. a plurality of like Xylophone bars supported by like parti.- tions, as described,r except for horizontal. lengths, and. the, under surfaces of the ends, of the Xylophone. bars are. likewise in. horizontal planes and hang over the ends oi' the corresponding. solenoids.`

By the arrangenienty described', a complete set of solenoids. and. their supports, based on the bot.- toms 34 and'. 34a suitably connected by an upright 31%,. may be, inserted in ay casing Ill, and` thereafter, a. complete set. of Xylophone bars are likewise installed. thereim either separately,7 or in. a group. entity, the latter by the. horizontal parti.- `tions, being secured. te the movable wall Illa. by individual brackets [5a- Actuation. of. the solenoids, throws the respective armature upwardly, to strike against its mat.- ingv Xylophone bar.. When the, circuit. is broken the. armature. will return by gravity to its lower inoperative position. ready for itsnext actuation.

In the. embodiment shown., live Xylophone bars arev arranged side by side (Fig. 1) in one horizontaltien, and., eight vertical tiersare shownin Fig. 2 making, forty Xylophone bars with corresponding. solenoid's the large number being made possible by the coacting step-like arrangement of the ends of the. Xylophone bars.. and solenoids.

The, electrical connections are simple and a circuit is shown diagrammati'cally in Fig. 4.. A circuit. is composed of two supply conductors 40 and.' 4 I. connected with, a. transformer i2'. A conductor 43 is connected with the end. of the coil. 44 of the solenoid, and. conductor 45 connected with the other end or the coil 4.4 and passes to microswitches. 46, from. which a conductor 41! returns to the transformer 4'2.

The current between conductors 43 and 41 passes to a switch 48 opened and closed by a switch action, when a key of the keyboard 49 (Fig. 3) or a key of the keyboard of the accordion I (Fig. 4) is depressed the circuit is closed, and when the key is released the circuit is opened. The microswitches 4G have a cam 45a, rotated as well known by a small motor (not shown) which cam makes and breaks the circuit with successive actions, so that the solenoids are set into action in successive impellings in order that the Xylophone bars are struck rapidly in succession to resemble the rapid repetitions of the mallet blows. In Fig. 2, is shown the case l0 with the Xylophone bars and solenoids therein, and with a cable 50, which includes all of the separate conductors, and which are operated by the keys of the keyboard. These individual keys, with their corresponding switches and conductors, are not shown in multiple, as they are merely a duplication of the circuit shown in Fig. 4.

The Xylophone bar supporting partitions may be all supported by a frame-work so that the entire Xylophone bar group may be inserted as a unit in the case, similar to the solenoid unit group, still permitting individual adjustment of the supporting partitions in the grooves of the case. An example, is shown in Fig. 2, where brackets a connect the partitions with the end wall 10a.

In Fig. 2, the improved Xylophone cabinet is shown connected by the cable 50, which may have its individual conductors connected with the key switches of either the keyboard 49 on the top of the cabinet (Fig. 3), or connected with the keyboard of the accordion, or to a piano, organ, or the like. By the player of the accordion activating its keys 56, the corresponding Xylophone bars are playedin harmony with the accordion sounds.

To prevent the partitions l5 from muiiiing the sounds of the Xylophone bars, each partition is provided with an opening I5b, as shown in Fig. 6, as an example.

If it is desired to dispense with either the partitions in their individual form or as grouped together to form a group unit, as described, the Xylophone bars may be provided with two spaced bores 23a, transversely of the bars, similar to the bores 23 described. A metal rod 55 is passed through the bores, and through the sidewalls Il and lla of the casing i0, transversely thereto. A spacer 56, preferably of rubber, is placed between each two adjacent bars. A locking collar 51 spaces each end bar from its adjacent casing wall. Each end of the rod 55 is threaded, and engaged by a removable nut 58. While Fig. 7 shows only one rod, it is to be understood, that a like structure, is spaced therefrom, these two rods occupying the relative positions corresponding to the bores 23 in Fig. 2. The bores 23a in the bars shown in Fig. '7 have a diameter larger than the diameters of the rods 55, to permit the vibration of the bars when actuated by the solenoids.

An amplifier diagrammatically shown (Fig. l) may be used to amplify the sounds. Details are known and are not shown.

The top wall 6I may be provided with an opening E2, covered by netting 63 to permit the passage of sound.

The armatures of the solenoids may be tipped with a ber layer to soften the blows. Preferably, the armature 60a of the solenoids is supported by a cotton disk Bla, below which a light coil spring 62a is placed, which rests on a felt washer or disk 63a. Projection 64 supports the washer 63a and is so placed to limit the movement of the armature 50a. In Fig. 3, each switch 48 is operated by one of the keys of the keyboard 5|, and is placed adjacent such key, so that when the key is depressed, the switch is closed to energize the solenoid.

While the invention has never been described by the use of the word Xylophone, it is clear that the invention includes like percussion instruments, as the marimba, vibroharp, bells, glockenspiel, etc.

Instead of mounting the Xylophone bars in a horizontal plane as in the embodiment of this invention, the bars can be disposed in rotation horizontally to a set of vertical solenoids, or all the bars can be arranged vertically one above the other each in horizontal position with the solenoids vertically disposed.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modiiications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. In a musical instrument, the combination of a casing, a plurality of suspended Xylophone bars in the casing, in vertical alignment and of progressively increasing length from the lowermost to the uppermost with the inner ends portions arranged in stepped relation with one end portion of each bar extending beyond the adjacent end of the next lower bar, a solenoid associated with each of said bars and positioned in said casing with its armature adjacent the extending end of each bar in striking relationship thereto, so that energization of the solenoid will cause its armature to directly strike its bar, the adjacent ends of said bars to said armature being diagonal to said casing, a keyboard, and electrical means actuated by the keys of the keyboard to selectively energize said solenoids, thereby causing the armature of the selected solenoid to strike its associated bar directly.

2. In the structure of claim 1, in which the solenoids are arranged vertically in a self-contained group unit adapted to be inserted into the casing as a unitary body.

3. In the structure of claim 1, in which the solenoids are arranged vertically in a self-contained group unit adapted to be inserted into the casing as a unitary body, and the Xylophone bars are arranged horizontally in a self-contained group unit adapted to be inserted into the casing as a unitary body.

4. In the structure of claim 1, said electrical means including a microswitch in circuit with the solenoid, and a motor driven cam, to operate the microswitch to vibrate the solenoid armature for striking the Xylophone bar in roll characteristie.

EMIL CARLSON.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date l,

962,261 Rose June 21, 1910 1,188,564 Severy June 27, 1916 1,707,057 Fusch Mar. 26, 1929 2,484,745 Rowe Oct. 11, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 249,793 Italy Aug. 16, 1926 

